performance evaluations

25 May, 2016

Performance evaluation of UT-M chancellor off limits to public under new law

By |2016-05-25T14:45:32-05:00May 25, 2016|Categories: exemptions|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Jackson Sun hit a public records roadblock in its ongoing probe into the accreditation problems at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Here's the short story: Tom Rakes resigned his position as chancellor at UT-Martin on May 31, 2015, and is now teaching a few online classes at the university for a lowered salary of $185,520. The university was placed on academic probation in December 2015 after years of notification to the university of key problems from its accrediting body. UT system President Joe DiPietro declined to say whether performance issues were a factor in the chancellor's resignation. So the newspaper asked for Rakes' personnel file, expecting to see Rakes' [...]

28 Apr, 2015

Lawmakers tweak public records law, but avoid new fees for now

By |2015-09-25T17:03:32-05:00April 28, 2015|Categories: fees, Legislature|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment

Sponsors delayed action on legislation that could have made accessing public records more expensive for citizens and news media, but lawmakers in the 109th General Assembly moved ahead on other changes to the state's public records law. A new exemption was added to make performance evaluations of more state employees confidential. Another was added to make sure student academic and health information remained private. And yet another reinforced already existing exemptions to protect credit card numbers and email addresses of citizens held by government. The most far-reaching public records bill was one that never made it to committee for discussion —  a proposal to impose new fees on citizens who asked to inspect public [...]

22 Feb, 2015

Editorial: Bills would keep citizens in dark on public records

By |2015-03-02T07:39:27-06:00February 22, 2015|Categories: exemptions, fees|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

Awesome editorial about need for transparency and accountability in government by Knoxville News Sentinel, reprinted here with permission: Three bills now pending in the Tennessee Legislature would combine to cripple the public's access to government records. One would make citizens pay to see official documents. Another would prevent the public from reviewing state employee performance evaluations. The third would shield from scrutiny the organization that regulates school sports statewide. The bills' sponsors and other lawmakers should reconsider these proposals in the context of transparency and accountability. One bill being pushed by the Tennessee School Boards Association would allow state and local government agencies to charge citizens a fee to inspect [...]

13 Feb, 2015

Proposed Tennessee bills could close public records; a few open them up

By |2015-02-13T09:19:09-06:00February 13, 2015|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment

Lawmakers of 109th General Assembly have filed a host of bills to block or hinder citizen access to public records in the hands of government. Several of the proposed Tennessee bills could close public records, while another proposes to charge fees to inspect records. The latter would set up a hurdle that could discourage citizens from pursuing records requests. The proposed fees would cover some of the time public employees spend gathering or redacting records for disclosure. Local government would determine the hours of labor involved, which leaves open the possibility that fees could be inflated to block or discourage access. While some bills affecting public records  focus on making [...]

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